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Leaders of both the House and Senate pledge to move quickly on legislation to help the Veterans Affairs Department treat the more than 100,000 vets who are either waiting months for medical appointments or have been unable to see a doctor. At a House hearing late last night, a top VA official apologized for the delays, calling them indefensible. Martin Matishak, staff writer at The Hill, joined Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss prospects for legislation and VA's future.

Democratic and Republican members of Congress are at loggerheads over immigration reform. Meanwhile agencies
who carry out immigration policy wonder what will happen. Leaders cannot agree on
issues such as border security, work visas, and other issues. If the House fails to
pass some type of reform by the end of July, some Democratic senators say President
Obama will act on his own. Bob Cusack is the managing editor of The Hill newspaper.
He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss exactly what laws
are up for reforming.

Washington seems enveloped in a tong war over happenings at Veterans Affairs' hospitals. A lesser known but highly critical VA program expires this fall unless Congress acts. It's the Assisted Living Pilot Program for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury. Several bills introduced to keep the popular program alive have become lost in the swirl of politics over more visible issues. At a time when the VA is under harsh scrutiny, one of its more successful programs is about to die. Alex Bolton is a staff writer at The Hill Newspaper. He discussed the program and some of the benefits it has accrued so far on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp.

The House is close to considering a bill to drastically
change the National Security Agency's surveillance programs. The bill was approved
by the Judiciary and Intelligence committees last week. It would end the NSA's
practice of storing telecommunications meta-data in its own data centers. For what
to expect next, Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp spoke to Julian
Hattem, a staff writer for The Hill newspaper.

The House Armed Services Committee releases a blueprint of the National Defense Authorization Act. The $601 billion measure hardly resembles the Pentagon's wish list. It rejects most of the department's ideas for saving money. Staff writer Martin Matishak has been following this closely for the Hill Newspaper. He provided insight for Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily
Kopp.

Congress is back in town after a two-week recess. The House managed to knock out two good-government bills: the DATA Act and the Government Reports Elimination Act. But what about the big stuff? The divided House and Senate have a lot to accomplish in the coming months. Bob Cusack, managing editor at The Hill Newspaper, laid out the Congressional to-do list for Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp.

The Federal Communications Commission has released a plan for auctioning off radio spectrum next year, but it still has tough decisions to make. The tech industry wants the FCC to set aside more free, unlicensed airwaves, but that won't help the government generate more revenue. Kate Tummarello, a staff writer at the Hill Newspaper, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp what the FCC plans to do.

Head of the Office of Management and Budget Sylvia Mathews Burwell has a tough road ahead if she's lucky enough to be confirmed as the next Health and Human Services secretary. President Barack Obama tapped her last week to replace Kathleen Sebelius. Burwell will go from the small, inside-the-White-House agency to a sprawling institution that, with Obamacare, is in the eye of the political storm. Elise Viebeck, staff writer at The Hill Newspaper, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp that
Burwell will face five big challenges.

Congress has a full to-do list this week. Lawmakers must pass agency funding bills and come to a conclusion on the gas tax. But how much can the divided House and Senate accomplish before lawmakers leave Friday for a two-week break? Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp posed that question to Bob Cusack, managing editor of The Hill.

President Barack Obama aims to stop the National Security Agency from collecting bulk telephone metadata. Instead, he wants phone companies to store the data and make it available to the NSA with a judge's permission. He's asked Congress for a legislative fix to NSA surveillance within 90 days. The whole program expires next year, so there's pressure to do something. Julian Hattem, staff writer for The Hill newspaper, tells Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily
Kopp what the prospects are for a new law now.